


maybe together (we can get somewhere)

by echoesofstardust



Category: Figure Skating RPF
Genre: (I picture the age gap as the same in real life), (although nothing happens until the authority/power imbalance is gone), (but a little ethically questionable), F/M, Meet-cute I guess?, driving shenanigans, in celebration of yours truly finally getting her driver's licence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-31
Updated: 2019-07-31
Packaged: 2020-07-27 02:55:44
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,862
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20038753
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/echoesofstardust/pseuds/echoesofstardust
Summary: See, Tessa knows it’s her fault that she’s found herself in this position.





	maybe together (we can get somewhere)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [lapetitemort20](https://archiveofourown.org/users/lapetitemort20/gifts), [Walkinrobe](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Walkinrobe/gifts), [rookandpawn](https://archiveofourown.org/users/rookandpawn/gifts).

> Dedicated to lapetitemort20, Walkinrobe and rookandpawn for cheering me on when I failed my driving test (for the third time) and cheering just as loud when I finally passed. Thanks for all the support ladies! This is for you.
> 
> This is theoretically based on the Ontario graduated licensing system but experientially based on my personal experiences in my corner of the world (which is far enough away that I drive on the other side of the road). I apologise for the inaccuracies in advance. :)
> 
> (Just a head's up that there is authority/power imbalance when they meet although their relationship doesn't develop until that aspect is resolved.)
> 
> Title is from 'Fast Car' by Tracy Chapman.
> 
> Hope you have a lovely day! <3

See, Tessa knows it’s her fault that she’s found herself in this position. 

A delicate balance of procrastination, prioritisation and okay, maybe a little bit of selective laziness. It was just never the most important thing for her to get done. First, it was getting top grades in high school to get into her dream university, then it was getting top grades in university whilst balancing that with involvement in clubs and societies _ and _ a damn good social life. Also, it was working her ass off to get a highly coveted internship position in a marketing firm. Which she did, but not without literal blood (paper cuts are dangerous things), sweat and tears.

She’s always been able to make her way without it. So what if she has to call in a favour from her sister from time to time? (That said, she does owe Jordan a million frappes at this point.)

Anyway, Tessa knows it’s her own fault that she still doesn’t have her driver’s licence. 

It wasn’t really something that she was embarrassed about, to be honest, but it had reached the point where she realised she’d need it for her future career. That was two years ago. After smashing the written test with flying colours, and smashing the G2 road test in a slightly different way (she passed it! That’s all that matters!), today’s the day she’s sitting the G road test.

And she’s going to get her licence today, god help her.

She’ll admit she wasn’t the best driver starting out but she’s Tessa Virtue and there’s nothing she can’t do well once she’s put in one hundred percent effort in it. She’s going to conquer driving like she plans to conquer the world.

She ignores the way her hands are shaking slightly as she’s waiting in the test centre, choosing to take a few deep breaths instead. She feels her sister knock into her elbow.

“Relax. You’ve got this.” Jordan squeezes her hand.

“Tessa Virtue?” It must be her assessor calling her name. One final inhale before she opens her eyes.

And—_oh _.

–

All Scott wants to do on his first day is to do a good job. 

Not a perfect job, because perfection doesn’t exist, but a decent job. An excellent job, if he’s lucky. His day started off well too. His boss, Patch, is a man of few words but has such a kind demeanour. He’s met a fellow assessor Chiddy who’s only been doing this for a year and can already feel he’s found his new best friend. There’s also Kurt and Elvis who are more seasoned. They’re quick to exchange jokes but also to promise him the tricks of the trade.

He was feeling pretty good. Still a little nervous, but a lot more at ease. He gets his documentation together for the first person he’ll evaluate and the first thing he notes is how pretty her name sounds.

He shakes his head. No distractions, Moir, he chides. He rolls his eyes to himself. He makes his way out of the inside offices and calls the name.

“Tessa Virtue?”

And—_oh. _

–

Tessa had expected the driving assessors to be stern, serious, and perhaps a more _ distinguished _ age. She hadn’t expected them to be quite as good-looking. Objectively! Objectively decent-looking. From another person’s perspective, of course.

If she screws this up because she’s distracted, she’s not going to forgive herself. She pointedly ignores her sister’s whispered, “Oooh, he’s _ hot _.” and stands up. She takes his offered hand to shake and is momentarily disarmed by his charming smile. It looks a little generic, not quite contrived but she recognises it as one donned in one’s workplace.

It hints at a hidden smile that’d be all the more special if one had the privilege to genuinely know him.

“I’m Scott,” he says. “I’ll be assessing you today.”

He checks her identification, asks for her consent for the test to be audio-recorded for teaching purposes, and gets her to lead the way to the car she’ll be using for the test. 

She likes the sound of his voice. A little gravelly, a lot expressive. She wouldn’t mind listening to an hour-long podcast with him talking and—goddamit Tessa, this is definitely not adhering to the _no_ _distractions _rule.

She gets in the car. She’d adjusted everything beforehand so she’s comfortable in her seat and she can see clearly from all her mirrors. He checks her brake lights and her indicators. 

(She nearly forgot to turn the ignition on before doing so but luckily, she didn’t think he noticed. She’s a little more frazzled now but she forces another deep breath.)

He gets in beside her. She looks at her dashboard to make sure the car door’s shut because she’s heard too many horror stories of failed driving tests because the door wasn’t shut properly.

“Okay, Tessa.” His smile is a little less charming and little more _ real _ but she’s probably deluding herself. Also, why does he have to have the prettiest eyes? At first, she thinks they’re dark brown, but the moment she thinks that it shifts into something green-gold, and then the moment she thinks _that_ she swears she sees a flash of something adjacently amber. She’s chasing a colour she’ll never catch.

“...do you have any questions?” He’s looking at her expectantly.

Shit. There’s a part of her that wants to nod yes because she’s been unashamedly checking out his _ irises _ of all things but she glances down sheepishly and lifts her shoulders slightly.

“Sorry, could you repeat that again?” She feels her cheeks heat. “Just to make sure I understand.” She steels her gaze towards the front instead. _ Focus_, she reminds herself. Scott doesn’t make any sound of frustration and he calmly repeats the brief outline of the test that she’ll take today.

She makes sure to listen this time.

"Move off when you're ready." She can see his pen poised over the marking sheet. She tries to visualise a score that's going to let her pass. 

She can do this. 

-

He'd thought of a few different scenarios where things might not go according to plan on his first day. 

One: the person taking the test isn't actually ready and they wind up in a horrific car accident. (He's a very optimistic person as you can see.)

Two: Someone fails and they end up in tears. You can make fun of him for it but seeing someone upset is painful for him and all he'd want to do is make them feel better. It's even more painful when he's the cause of their pain. He's had to work hard to manage this part of himself. 

Three: He gets bribed to let someone pass. The answer to that is obviously a hard _ no_. That's not even a question. Still, he'd heard of enough horror stories of driving assessors being, uh, propositioned by brazenly desperate men and women. 

He hadn't accounted for being gobsmacked by someone's beauty.

She's the sort of pretty that would have made nine-year-old Scott chase her around the rink, fourteen-year-old Scott pine from afar, twenty-two-year-old flirt as charmingly as he could and—

—For twenty-seven-year-old Scott to assess her driving, apparently. 

He chastises himself a little too. First, because he's sure these are unprofessional thoughts, and second, because he's only thinking of her looks superficially and his mama raised a better boy. 

Maybe she'll turn out to be too rude and an incompetent driver and he won't have to worry about developing a crush. 

Wait—is he developing one? Has he already got one? 

He's introduced himself and gotten all the necessary steps prior to the assessment done. All while maintaining a professional facade. He gives himself a mental pat on the back. He's not going to screw this up. 

Then he turns to her as he's gotten in the car and all he can see is green, gorgeous green and—oh _ fuck_. 

He gets the necessary preamble out basically on autopilot because he's still lost in the depths of her eyes and this is very, very, very bad. 

She politely asks him to repeat everything again. Oh no, what if she's realised what he's thinking? He can see a hint of pink on her cheeks and he feels guilty for making her feel uncomfortable. He concentrates on repeating everything he was meant to say the first time and he can see her nodding out of the corner of his eye. 

And then…they're off. 

-

Scott knows he's messed up. 

He looks down at the sheet and sees a row of marks constituting _ a perfect score _ which is practically unheard of. He'd slipped into the role of an assessor quickly, focusing on the elements of her driving instead of daydreaming what it'd be like to hold her hand. If you'd asked him as he was marking all her manoeuvres if he was confident that he's giving his most accurate evaluation he would've one hundred percent said yes. 

As he's looking at the whole sheet, he's not so sure. What if they accuse him of favouritism or being too soft and they intervene and don't let Tessa have her licence? 

He knows that he's not going to let that happen. He's going to vouch for her (very) competent driving skills should it come to that. He lets out a soft puff of breath. She parks the car at the correct place and turns the ignition off. He can sense some tension in her arms and the way she grips the steering wheel, but her facial expression betrays nothing.

He waits until they’re both back inside the test centre before letting her know of her result.

“Tessa,” he tries to subtly clear his throat, “I’m pleased to let you know you’ve passed today and you’ll be getting your G licence.”

“Really?” The word bursts out of her as she bends over in shock. She straightens up quickly though, schools her face into a neutral expression. It saddens him a little. He’d love to see her smile again. She clears her throat, clasping her hands together. “Thank you. For your time. Is there anything I need to improve on to be a better driver?”

He looks down at the sheet in front of him and starts sweating. “As long as you keep driving the way you did today, you’ll be fine. You’re a good and safe driver.” He prays she won’t ask him to elaborate.

She nods, a little sceptical, but just thanks him again. He watches her go over to the woman who was sitting beside her earlier who hugs her tight. He’s already started to go back to the office inside when he hears a big, booming laugh. He just knows it’s her.

He’s still looking down at his copy the marking sheet when he runs into Patch. Patch glances down at the sheet and raises an eyebrow.

“She’s a good driver!” he barks out reflexively.

“I did not say anything,” Patch smiles. “You’re doing a good job.” He pats Scott’s shoulder. Scott breathes out a sigh of relief and starts getting ready for the next person.

“Maybe just make your—what do you kids call it?—‘heart eyes’ a bit more subtle next time, non?”

Scott swears as he nearly drops what he’s holding. “Patch!”

–

Tessa hates lights that have been green for a really long time. It stresses her out that it’s going to turn orange at the awkward place where she doesn’t know if she should stop or just keep going. (She’d had a nightmare that she failed her driving test because she caused ‘a potential crisis’ when she braked too late at a set of lights that just turned orange.)

Luckily, this set turned orange far enough that she knows it’s definitely safe to stop. She checks her rearview mirror and notes the car behind her is far enough for her to smoothly brake. She stops the required distance away from the solid line and waits patiently for the lights to turn green.

And then she hears—and _ feels_—her car being rear-ended.

The lights had just turned green so she has to drive past them but indicates to pull over as soon as it’s safe for her to do so. If the person who rear-ended her beautiful car knows what’s best for them, he or she better be pulling over behind her.

She glances at her rearview mirror and notes that they are. She chooses to be thankful for small mercies. Maybe it’s an honest mistake. Maybe they’re having a stressful day. Situational attribution theory and all that.

Still, she has to restrain herself from screaming _ What the fuck, asshole?! _ because she’s a polite Canadian.

She slips on a forced smile that feels more like a grimace as she gets out of her car. 

She recognises him the second she sees him. “Scott?” Later, she’ll realise it’s mildly creepy that she still remembers his name more than a month later but that’s not the first thought that enters her head. “You’re—you’re a driving assessor! How did you rear-end my car?”

In his defence, he does appear guilty and contrite. “Tessa.” His mouth opens and closes like a goldfish. “I’m so sorry. That was definitely my fault. If there’s any repairs you need, I’ll definitely cover the cost.” He presses his lips into a thin line and bends over to inspect that back of her car.

She looks at it as well and there are no dents visible. He probably just tapped the back of her car, to be honest. The paint’s probably a little scratched but it’s not that big of a deal. Knowing that a major crisis has been averted is a relief.

She starts to laugh. The kind that’s full-bodied and uncontrollable and makes tears form at her eyes. She can see Scott looking at her questioningly although his lips quirk like he’s fighting not to smile. “Scott—” she gets in between giggles, “sorry—just—you rear-ended my car! And you’re a driving assessor!”

His cheeks turn pink but he’s grinning now. “Hey! I’m human. I’m allowed to make mistakes. Although—” he winces, “—it’d be really embarrassing if the guys find out about this.” He shakes his head. “I’d deserve it though. Are you sure there’s nothing I can do for your car?” He frowns down at the point where he’d hit the car.

“It looks fine. I think it sounded worse than what it actually was.” She nods, a hand at her hip. “I guess I’ll get going.”

She’s in the driver’s seat and was about to shut her door when he says, “Wait!” She cranes her neck to look at him.

“Yeah?”

“Umm…I was just gonna say—can I give you my number? If there’s anything you can think of that I can do for you?” He looks so earnest and apologetic that all she can do is nod. She hands him her phone and he types in his number. “I’m so sorry again. I hope the rest of your day goes better.”

“I think I’ll be fine as long as no one rear-ends me again,” she teases. He laughs, bending over backwards. She adores his smile, the way his eyes crease at the sides at the stupid joke she made. “Like I said before, it’s fine. Hope your day goes better too.”

“As long as I don’t rear-end anyone again,” he quips back. She gives him a tiny wave before he walks back to his car.

He waits for her to drive off before he does. She catches him give her one last smile in her rear-view mirror.

–

She’s waiting for takeout when she texts him. 

**Tessa: **Hey, it’s Tessa

His response is almost immediate.

**Scott:** Hey! 

**Scott:** Have you thought of something I can do for you yet?

She bites her lip. She types and sends before she loses her nerve.

**Tessa:** I have

**Tessa:** And I’m not sure whether this is appropriate

**Tessa:** So you can say no if you want to

**Tessa:** But I was wondering if you want to grab dinner?

Her heart thumps in her chest. It gets louder with every moment she waits for his response.

**Scott:** As an apology?

She answers before she second-guesses herself.

**Tessa:** No, as a date 

If her heart was thumping before, it’s now going so fast it’d shatter the speed limit even on a highway.

**Scott:** Are you doing anything tonight? I’m cooking dinner

**Scott:** I’m not a bad cook :)

She looks at the delivery app on her phone and sees that she can still cancel.

**Tessa:** If you’re sure?

**Scott:** Yeah

**Tessa:** What’s your address?

(Scott turns out to be a fantastic cook. The pasta sauce he’d made was utterly _ divine_. He teases that maybe he needs to give her some privacy with the food.

She retorts that it’s not the food she’d like privacy with before she realises what she’s admitted and blushes deeply, embarrassed. He laughs before leaning in to kiss her. 

She discovers that he tastes even better than his pasta sauce. He discovers that cars aren’t the only thing that Tessa likes to, uh, ride.)


End file.
